Climate-Smart Landscape Conservation Planning & Design

Increasing complexity in interactions between resources, uses and climate

Background: Secretarial Order 3289 “…Interior bureaus and agencies must work together, and with other federal, state, tribal and local governments, and private landowner partners, to develop landscape-level strategies for understanding and responding to climate change impacts.” Addressing the Impacts of Climate Change on America's Water, Land, and Other Natural and Cultural Resources (9/14/09) DOI Climate Science Centers Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

LCC Geographies – A Seamless Network

Link science and conservation delivery (inform management) Integrate priority needs & goals across species groups & large landscapes Identify most effective conservation approaches to achieve common goals Identify gaps in science Augment and draw upon existing capacities of partners Avoid duplication through improved conservation planning and design Connect efforts What do Landscape Conservation Cooperatives DO?

Working across jurisdictional boundaries on a large geographic scale

STEERING COMMITTEE 7

DLCC Staff Contacts: Genevieve Johnson, DLCC Coordinator Bureau of Reclamation Aimee Roberson, DLCC Science Coordinator Fish and Wildlife Service Sally Holl, DLCC Data Coordinator U.S. Geological Survey Website: YouTube: Facebook: 8

MISSION Mission: Through collaborative partnerships provide scientific and technical support, coordination, and communication to resource managers and the broader Desert LCC community to address climate change and other landscape-scale ecosystem stressors. 9

Goals: Support, facilitate, promote and add value to landscape scale conservation to build resource resilience in the face of climate change and other ecosystem stressors through the following:  Science Development and Delivery  Collaboration and Communication  Monitoring and Evaluation  Outreach and Education GOALS 10

How? Landscape Conservation Planning & Design Through a collaborative process,  Determine design priorities  Stressors to priority ecosystems and species  Conservation targets  Map priority ecosystems, resources & species  Model projected impacts from climate change & other threats  Identify climate change adaptation strategies & critical conservation actions  Identify opportunities for collaboration  Conservation Planning Atlas:  Online platform to lay the foundation for integrated landscape conservation design in support of an international network of functional ecosystems & landscapes Build on existing work (i.e, BLM’s REAs)

Climate-Smart Adaptation Planning & Implementation Framework 12

1) The What: Priority Resources Priority Ecosystems: Rivers/Streams + riparian resources Seeps & Springs Grasslands & Shrublands Species vulnerable to climate change Common Goals Common Objectives Common Measures of Success

2) Currently identified stressors (2015) 14

3) Review Goals and Objectives: Developing common conservation indicators (2015) 15

2,3,4) Mapping resources (2015 – 2016) 16  Science Base  Conservation Planning Atlas  Partners Plans and Assessments  BLM REAs  State Wildlife Action Plans  Regional Vulnerability Assessments (Agencies, TNC, WWF,..)  Joint Venture Implementation Plans  DLCC GIS Working Group  Federal Data Hubs (USGS, INEGI, CEC, …)

CONSERVATION PLANNING ATLAS NatureServe (Mojave REA) States - CA, NV, AZ, TX, UT, NM Forest Service National Park Service USGS CBI (Sonoran REA) BLM INEGI Joint Ventures NGOs DLCC CMQ Representatives FWS GIS Working Group: Establish committee of Data Stewards/Owners to be responsible for their respective agency’s data in the process, and ultimately the Conservation Planning Atlas. 17

Modeling (2015 – 2016)  Apply models to assess the current state of the ecosystem.  Create scenarios to assess relationship of stressors to indicators, including climate change.  Identify data limitations and gaps to direct research and improve development of future assessments

Pre ‐ Design (2016)  Agree on a collaboratively ‐ defined desired future condition.  Assess the difference between the current/projected condition and the desired future condition.  Determine what actions partners could take that could move landscape towards desired future condition.

Identifying adaptation strategies to achieve common objectives (2016) General Adaptation Strategies  Reduce non-climate stressors  Protect key ecosystem features  Ensure connectivity  Restore structure and function  Support evolutionary potential  Protect refugia  Relocate organisms  Ensure redundancy 20

Design (2017)  Evaluate and select a suite of implementation strategies that meet partner mission and goals.  Develop implementation agreements.  Document information and products generated during the design process for peer review.

MEASURING PROGRESS TOWARD CONSERVATION GOALS 22

Build capacity & tools to share information across jurisdictions (2015 – 2017)  Map baseline condition assessments or inventories  Map on-going or completed conservation actions: who is doing what where?  Understand where conservation actions are most needed  Understand where the greatest opportunities for collaboration are 23

Timeline  Pilot nominations (July 10 th )  Workshop 1, Tucson AZ (August 4-6th)  Workshop 2, Aguascalientes, MX (October 6-8 th )  Pilot area selection (November 2015)  Nominees will be part of Landscape Design Working Group  Identify adaptation strategies, critical conservation actions, and opportunities for collaboration ( )  Conduct peer review of process (2018)  Revise and finalize design (2018)  Monitor progress (2019+)

Pilot Area Nominations 25 Partners Nominate Pilots Workshops: Revise and ID Evaluation Criteria Working Group: Evaluates Subset Recommended to Steering Committee Steering Committee Approves Final Selection Working Group Initiates ( Includes Nominators ) 1. Data Acquisition 2. Scenario Planning Workshops 3. Adaptation Strategies Workshops 4. Conservation Action

Nominated Pilot Areas DECISION CRITERIA High Level Values YES DESIGN CRITERIA Practicalities Portfolio of Potential Pilot Areas NO Dropped Pilot Areas NO YES

DECISION (selection) CRITERIA: Highest Level Values 1 - NEXUS TO DLCC Mission Conservation at landscape scale/tie to climate change and other stressors 2 - POTENTIAL TO IMPLEMENT DESIGN Diverse partners, cooperation, and resources sufficiently present and ready to implement design 27

DECISION (selection) CRITERIA: Highest Level Values 3 - HABITAT AND SPECIES DIVERSITY Includes species and habitats of management interest and vulnerable to Climate Change 4 - SCALABLE TO LARGER GEOGRAPHY/PROCESS Results applicable to a larger geography and process concept is scalable 28

DECISION (selection) CRITERIA: Highest Level Values 5 - ALL THREE PRIORITY RESOURCES ADDRESSED ( Rivers and Streams, Seeps and Springs, Grass/Shrubland ) 29

DESIGN CRITERIA: Practicalities Bi-NATIONAL FOOTPRINT Pilot area portfolio includes lands in the United States and Mexico DATA AVAILABLE FOR DESIRED SPATIAL ANALYSIS Data available to answer management questions and produce a spatial analysis product LANDSCAPE SCALE Area is appropriate to meet the intent of a landscape scale analysis but dependent on management questions and indicators 30

DESIGN CRITERIA: Practicalities 31 SpringStreamGrassland

WE WANT YOUR INPUT Baseline condition assessments or inventories On-going or completed conservation actions: who is doing what where? Existing objectives, indicators (e.g., species, ecosystem processes or services), and targets Pressures and stressors survey for each ecosystem type Prioritize pilot geographies for planning and design Assess vulnerability of conservation priorities in focal areas Create scenarios of future landscape condition, including climate projections Prepare plans for 2-3 pilot landscape conservation designs ID critical conservation actions and develop adaptation strategies ID opportunities to collaborate and leverage resources for collective impact 32

Workshop Goals (2015 – 2017) 33  Engage key partners to develop a shared vision for conservation action.  Collate objectives, indicators, and targets related to our focal ecosystems from individual organizations.  Determine design priorities, including:  Conservation goals for focal ecosystems.  Critical pressures and stressors on ecosystems and species.  Identify pilot areas for future work, including:  A suite of climate-smart management strategies that integrate societal needs and economic values of landscapes with ecological goals and build on the strengths of each partner’s individual activities and authorities.  Spatially-explicit models for 2-3 pilot areas that depict current and future conditions for focal ecosystems and stressors.  Identification of data limitations and gaps to direct research and improve development of future assessments.

Workshop Benefits for Your Organization or Agency 34  Learn how to do climate-smart adaptation planning and landscape conservation design.  Nominate pilot landscapes you work on for climate-smart adaptation planning.  Understand what data is available and a process for using it to answer management and planning questions.  Leverage funding and partnerships and build coalitions to deliver conservation.  Position your organization to streamline future conservation planning efforts with integration across geographical boundaries.  Identify important information gaps that will be shared.  Broad audience of potential partners and funders.  Help fulfill your organization’s needs or mandates for climate change adaptation planning.

LCPD Team Contacts: Genevieve Johnson, DLCC Coordinator Bureau of Reclamation Aimee Roberson, DLCC Science Coordinator Fish and Wildlife Service Sally Holl, DLCC Data Coordinator U.S. Geological Survey Sergio Avila, Facilitator Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum 35 Duane Pool, Project Lead Bird Conservancy Of the Rockies (Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory) Louise Mistzal, Project Lead Sky Island Alliance Tahnee Robertson, Facilitator Southwest Decision Resources

End 36

Desert LCC Pilot Area Nomination (Limit 6 pages)  Pilot Area Name & Point of contact for pilot area:  Briefly describe the pilot area, including a description of why boundaries were chosen, primary resources of management concern, and ecological integrity of the area.  Explain why this area is important and how it connects to the larger Desert LCC geography, mission and vision.  Describe the primary management questions or concerns in this pilot area.  Describe the major partners or partnerships working in the pilot area. 37

Nomination Questions  Briefly describe the types of conservation or management activities currently occurring.  D escribe any goals and/or objectives related to priority resources or species of interest to your partners.  Describe the social, cultural, and economic vulnerabilities relative to projected climate change scenarios.  Describe why people in the pilot area value or are concerned about grasslands, streams, springs/seeps, and riparian resources. 38

Nomination Questions  Describe how the Desert LCC Climate-Smart Landscape Conservation Planning and Design project would contribute to the achievement of objectives in this Pilot Area.  Describe how developing collaborative adaptive management actions for Desert LCC focal resources help human communities in the pilot area adapt to projected climate changes.  Describe resources available for implementing conservation planning and design activities in the future.  Provide a shapefile (or KML/KMZ file) of the pilot area boundaries. 39

O ptional Nomination Questions  Describe any additional conservation opportunities in this pilot area.  Discuss any additional benefits, concerns, or key points of which reviewers should be aware.  Provide links to any additional documents or resources that you feel are important for considering this nomination.  Provide photos or other visual materials that will help to give reviewers a sense of place. 40